Deep in the mysterious jungles of Borneo grows a rare flowering vine, the blood orchid. An American pharmaceutical company believes that enzymes produced by these blossoms could double the life expectancy of humans. Expecting to make billions of dollars on a blood-orchid drug, the company sends a team of scientists including the company founder (Morris Chestnut) to collect orchids for research. The scientists arrive in Borneo in the middle of the rainy season with the local rivers at dangerous levels for travel, but this is the only way to the orchids. The pharmaceutical team hires a sly captain (Johnny Messner) and his old riverboat for passage into the jungle. After three days of travel, the unstable waters cause the riverboat to take a one-way trip over a 100-foot waterfall. The scientists lose most of their equipment and face a long trip back to civilization, but they discover gigantic anacondas that delay their journey.

The horror thriller Anacondas makes a powerful statement concerning the destructive power of greed. A man forsakes all of his friends to pursue wealth, and he loses everything in the end. The movie seems to be saying that greed is more dangerous than man-eating snakes. There is lots of unrealistic violence that makes viewers almost laugh when characters are killed. A man jokes about being attacked and then a snake sneaks up and eats him. Another scene shows a paralyzed man scream as a snake comes for him. The characters often insult and degrade one another. One woman suggests that another woman is having sex with her boss to get a promotion, and a woman looks down on another team member because he is poor. Action violence and scary images primarily in the form of intense snake attacks and insidious language permeate this one, so avoid Anacondas.